Building Tools
See also: Building for an overview of building (an introduction) or Building Guides and Tutorials for a variety of tutorials on different techniques. While gathering tools are used to gather resources outside claims, building tools are used to build on your claim or any claim at which the owner has granted you Builder access. Building tools refers to any of the actual tools used to alter a claim, but there are a few other elements you'll want to familiarize yourself with that are described here, like the materials tray. :This article provides you with an overview of the building tools. Links within the page provide additional information, but the Related Topics near the end also offers a list of articles that may be helpful for new players if you prefer to read through this article first. This info applies to Dec. 2014 (closed beta) and may change at any time, due to the nature of the development process and frequent game updates. About Build Tools in Closed Beta During Alpha and early closed beta, the build tools had to be crafted. As of Aug 2014, this is no longer true. *Now you will have all of the build tools automatically placed in your inventory the first time you place a claim. *You must drag each tool from your inventory and into a hotbar at the bottom center of your screen. Note that you have up and down arrows at the left-side (end) of the hotbar, so you can swicth between a hotbar with gathering tools (pick, axe, etc.) and the building tools. *At this time (Aug 2014) you must have your building tools in your personal inventory (bag - press i') when your are building. Moving them to a vault or storage chest will make them vanish from your hotbar. :*To make them reappear in the hotbar, put them back in your personal inventory (bag). Building Terminology Before you read on, it's helpful to know some of the common words used when describing the building process. Voxel Voxel is a casual term used to describe the a single unit of material (in the form of the smallest cube) that can be placed with the Add Tool, but the ''actual voxel is a point and complex structure inside of the smallest cube. The material that surrounds a single voxel can be warped and manipulated in various ways (eg. smooth tool). In other words, this smallest cube is frequently used as a unit of measurement (akin to the use of meters in the real world, for example). Material In the context of building, this is any material gathered (eg. mining) or any material that has be altered by the player, like plain wood that has be turned into plain wood planks at a Tinkerer's Workshop or Saw Table. In the context of building it is selected via the Materials Tray and used to build one voxel at a time or when filling an entire area using keyboard shortcuts and commands or the selection tool. Materials Tray This element of the User Interface (UI) that can be used to switch materials when building or consulted while harvesting to easy track how much of a single material you are gathering easily. The last material (and texture) that was selected, will show in this part of the material tray. The image to the left shows the the last material used was Orange Lumicite; the number at the top is how much lumicite the player had when the screen show was taken, the bottom number is the amount they were about to use when placing a shape. :For more information related to the material tray (including details about how to expand your choices of materials and textures) see the Add Tool page. Texture Texture or textures refers to any pattern or color variance materials can have in Landmark to represent a different appearance (ie. look and "feel"). For example, the material sand can be built with to look like formed sand bricks, polished sandstone slabs, the softer look of natural beach sand, and so on. You'll select a specific texture for each material in the materials tray. Landscape The natural land (dirt, stone, etc.) that appears within the boundary of a claim that can be deleted or terraformed by the player. This may alternately be referred to as terrain by some players. Prop Any player-made item, like a storage chest or prop-tree that can be manipulated while building. Any tree, plant, or rock within the boundary of a claim at the moment the claim is placed; such trees (etc.) become props and are no longer harvestable once a claim is placed, but players can R click on them to move them around or delete them. The term "building tools" primarily refers to Enclose Or the variations: enclosed or enclosing: refers to the actions using the Selection Tool, it describes anything (materials or props) within the area defined by the player while building. Artifact On occasion, the material around a voxel can be deformed in manner that looks spiky, or twisted in an unintended way. (Eg. When placing a sphere that is too small, artifacts may appear and make it look malformed) Tweak Mode Many tools have useful keyboard shortcuts and commands that make building much easier when you use them. Most tools have some simple options and others have advanced controls that allow you to tweak the placement the shapes and more. Modal Bar Most people who have played other MMOs are familiar with the hotbar. The hotbar is the User Interface (UI) element near the bottom center of the screen to which you can drag and drop various gear you need to use in a hurry (or spell icons in games with class-based combat). In Landmark, the building tools are dragged from your Inventory to the hotbar. Once they are in the hotbar and you click to use any of them, you will see a smaller set of icons appear above the hotbar. This collection of icons is the Modal Bar because it can be used to switch the active tool between modes. For example, pressing the '''F key while using the Smooth Tool applies more subtle smoothing. To learn all of the modes of each tool while you build, look at the Modal Bar for indications of features beyond the basic application of each tool. =Individual Building Tools= Below you'll find a summary of the basic purpose of each of the building tools you will get when you place your first claim. *When you are on a claim and click on any of the building tools to activate it, you enter "build mode". Hit ESC at any time to release a tool (to switch tools) or to start another activity like placing props. *Before you enter build mode, hold down shift and use the scroll wheel on your mouse to zoom out; doing so makes it easier to see what your doing. You can use Shift + your mouse scroll wheel to zoom in and out while building too. Selection Tool The selection tool serves the same purpose as a selection tool in most image editing programs or websites (think of cropping a picture), but in Landmark, it is used to isolate a area within a claim and make a wide variety of changes. It can be used to quickly delete portions the landscape in a claim, to change the look of any player built object (eg. wood stairs, changed to stone), or to smooth anything it is used to enclose. You will need to use it when you are ready to start making templates. *It is the tool that may take the most practice to learn, but is one of the most useful because it can be used in many ways. The Selection tool can be manipulated into any square or rectangular shape by: #Clicking in the desired area to activate it to create a starting point #Placing the mouse over either "handles" (small arrows on each corner) or any of a the "faces" (the flat sides), while holding down the L mouse button and #Dragging the selection tool over the area you want to enclose for use with most other building tools. :See the Selection Tool page for more details in uses, demonstration images, and demonstration videos. Add Tool The Add tool can be used to place materials on a claim. It can be scaled from a single voxel and up, provided you have enough of the material you intend to place. When you are satisfied with the size or shape, L click to place. *If you do not have enough to of a material place at the time, you'll hear a clicking sound. *When combined with the Selection Tool, activating the Add Tool and moving the mouse over the selected volume, the selection tool will turn yellow. Clicking a selected area will fill the entire volume. :See the Add Tool page for more information, tips and tricks, demonstration images and videos. Delete Tool The Delete tool can be used to remove materials on a claim. It will delete both the natural landscape of the claim or remove any materials you've placed (eg. a staircase you built). *When combined with the Selection Tool, activating the Delete Tool and moving the mouse over the selected volume, the selection tool will turn blue. Clicking a selected volume will remove the entire volume (eg. a tower you built prior). :See the Delete Tool page for more information, tips and tricks, demonstration images and videos. Heal Tool The Heal tool can be used to return the landscape on a claim to its original state. For example, this grants the freedom to delete large areas of the claim without any worry. In the context of building tools you are "healing" the land. *When combined with the Selection Tool, activating the Heal Tool and moving the mouse over the selected volume, the selection tool will turn Green. Clicking will heal anything inside. Unlike other the add and delete tool, the heal tool will not effect the entire volume of the selected area; instead it may heal and fill the whole selection tool volume (if the selected area was large) or it will heal the selection volume partially, based on the original landscape. :Examples: it can heal a large underground area that was once solid dirt back to its original state, while the side of a hill will return with its natural curvature only and the airspace around it. :See the Heal Tool page for more information, tips and tricks, demonstration images and videos. Smooth Tool The Smooth Tool will smooth any rough edges on a player-built object or on the natural landscape of a claim. If used too aggressively, it will remove too much material, so use it carefully. It is also used in many advanced building techniques (eg. creating inlays). *When combined with the Selection Tool, activating the Smooth Tool and moving the mouse over the selected volume, the selection tool will turn purple. *'On March 5th, 2015, the icon color and in-use appearance of this tool was changed to orange to accommodate color blind players who could not see purple well.' :See the Smooth Tool page for more information, tips and tricks, demonstration images and videos. Paint Tool The Paint tool is used to replace a material or texture in a player-built object or the natural landscape on a claim with a different material or texture. *This tool allows players to quickly alter the look of an player-made object after it has been built or after a template has been placed. *When combined with the Selection Tool, activating the Paint Tool and moving the mouse over the selected volume, the selection tool will turn cyan. Any player-built object, structure, or the landscape within the selection volume will take on look of a different material selected by the player. :*You must have the material you want to apply in your inventory to make a change. :*Examples: enclosing staircase you built out of wood can be changed to stone (changing one material to a new material), selecting the wall of a house and changing from small stone bricks to large stone bricks (a texture change), enclosing an area of the landscape and changing snow to grass. :See the Paint Tool page for more information, tips and tricks, demonstration images and videos. Line Tool The Line tool is used to build slopes, inclined pillars and various volumes joining two different surfaces. For example, a common use for the line tool is adding simple, straight support beams to a house. *To use it, you first click on one surface to indicate the beginning point and move your mouse pointer to the second point at which you want to complete the line. When satisfied with the placement, L click to fill in the volume indicated by the line tool. :Color indicators :*If the line is red, you will not be able to L click and place it. (During closed beta, as of Aug 2014, this occurs when starting the tool scale out at 1 voxel. Using the mouse wheel to scroll the tool size to a minimum of 2 voxels is necessary) :*If the line is yellow, it should place and may or may not be smooth. :*If the tool turns green, it should be smooth in most cases. :See the Line Tool page for more information, tips and tricks, demonstration images and videos. Area Tool This tool is used with interactive props, like trapdoors. This tool allows builders to set an area on a claim to trigger an event with the Linking and Triggering system. For example, you can have a trapdoor open when a player runs over it, rather than when they click on the trapdoor. :See the Area Tool page for more details. Eyedropper Tool This tool will not appear in you inventory. It is a tool that can be activated while using most other building tools. It's the key to quickly switching between building materials. When activated, it looks like a tiny ray of light. :See the Eyedropper Tool page for details. Overview of Keyboard Commands The table below has the most common commands you will use. Check the individual tool pages for any additional pages or descriptions of these in greater detail. Closed Beta Building Tool Demonstrations *A quick (5 min) video that covers only of the basic keyboard commands that are used often while building can be seen here. See each of the pages for individual tool pages linked above for additional functions like copy/paste, templates, and more or check the YouTube channel (Yasuewho) for addition videos. *This video covers the basics of all building tools including all keybindings as of 4/19/14. :Since it was recorded, scaling cubes and spheres in build mode is now fluid - that is, you no longer need to switch between 2 scales, you just use the scroll wheel on the mouse to go from smallest to largest (works with Add, Delete, and Smooth): About Advanced Building Techniques Besides the conventional voxel generated through the building tools there exist special types like micro voxels, anti voxels and zero voxels one can create ingame which allow more advanced building and higher detail grades. A list of other building guides can be found here and many more are available on YouTube. Related Topics If you are new to Landmark, you may want to read the following as well: *Prop - props can also be placed on claims while building and many players manipulate props to make unusual effects. For example, one might flip a cup upside down to create the illusion of a stove burner. *Claims - If you've not yet read about claims, make yourself familiar with how they work before placing your first claim. *Gathering - will help you learn the basics of gathering materials to build on your claim. *Crafting - will aid in understanding some of the steps you may need to take to refine materials that you can build with. *Building - provides and introduction to the topic covered here in a general sense. Beta Bugs *The clicking sound that can normally be heard when you do not have enough of a material may still sound off when you do have enough. If this happens you might need to L click a few times to get the tool to work (eg. deleting with the selection tool, placing a large cube) *Some tools may misbehave if you are scrolled in too close (in first person). For example, you may get stuck in tweak mode (shift + left click) or accidentally cancel the use of the selection tool without hitting ESC. To correct it, hit ESC, hold down Shift and use the mouse scroll wheel to zoom out before you build again. Category:Building Tools Category:Guides